Tier 5 - update your resume/ Dennis Allen (3 Viewers)

[Saintsphere]

I'm glad no one in this thread is offended at his ranking. Relived actually.

We're in the dog days of the offseason where fans can be at their most delusional so I was expecting a few "DA is disrespected!!!" takes haha

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

No, I haven't. We lost because of 1 score games, mainly because of missed field goals. No.football said also (or, Nick Underhill) that if we had just averaged 3 points more a game, we would have easily been a 10 win team.

Here were our losses last year

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 20 (no missed FG)
@ Carolina Panthers 14 22 (one blocked FG, one missed FG, but we would still lose even if we convert)
Minnesota Vikings 25 28 (Lutz missed 61 FG as time expires, otherwise no misses, also he kicked a 60 yarder earlier)
Cincinnati Bengals 26 30 (no missed FGs)
@ Arizona Cardinals 34 42 (no missed FGs)
Baltimore Ravens 13 27 (no missed FGs)
@ Pittsburgh Steelers 10 20 (no missed FGs)
@ San Francisco 49ers 0 13 (one missed FG)
@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 17 (no missed FGs)
Carolina Panthers 7 10 (two missed FG, one 48 yarder blocked, another 55 yarder blocked which led)

So the only loss you can pin on Lutz was the Panthers. The Minny loss was a 61 yarder, expecting a kicker to make that is a tall order (and he had made a 60 yarder earlier). So we win the Panthers game and we're 8-9, still out of the playoffs.

But I agree we were very close to a 9-8 team which would have be enough for the playoffs last year. The Bucs loss really hurt. Do nothing all game and then come out and score two consecutive touchdowns in the 4th ...

 

[jahsoul357]

Here were our losses last year

@ Carolina Panthers 14 22 (one blocked FG, one missed FG, but we would still lose even if we convert)

That Kamara fumble kick started the loss. Penalties on 2nd and 3rd down killed it and those misses began the burial..lol

I agree with you though. Missed FGs weren't the problem in most games. Winnable games:

-Bucs - Those interceptions hurt our chances but the momentum shift happened with Ingram's fumble in red zone
-Vikings - 3 points swing came on a fumble
-Bengals - 4 RZ Field Goals
-Bucs - 3 RZ Field Goals. Even 1 more TD would have sealed the win
-Panthers - SMH

Truth be told, the biggest issue for me was our success to TOO predicated on the run but the problem is our run game wasn't that good most games. And this goes back to 2021 but at least in 2021, Healthy Winston and Taysom kept defenses honest because they ran if they had to and averaged over 5 yards per carry. Not only was the run game bad this year but broken back Jameis and the statuesque Dalton was not helping in that area. Bump Taysom throwing the ball (though this is probably the best he has looked); we won when he was a major part of the run game. That's why I couldn't understand why they just didn't treat him as a true H-back. So many ways that we could have been creative with him and Kamara in the run game.

 

[ChopperSaint]

Sean Payton #11 is a complete joke
At least 6 names on the list have no business being above him

 

[Rouxble]

Truth be told, the biggest issue for me was our success to TOO predicated on the run but the problem is our run game wasn't that good most games. And this goes back to 2021 but at least in 2021, Healthy Winston and Taysom kept defenses honest because they ran if they had to and averaged over 5 yards per carry.

Probably an understatement. I’m digging around on FO this morning, and saw that Kamara was 40th out of 42 for RB DVOA in 2022 and 47th out of 50 in 2021. Our OL adjusted line yards stats were average for 2022 and terrible for 2021, but in both years our RB’s were bottom five in second level yards (5-10 yards past LOS) and open field yards (11+ yards past LOS).

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

Probably an understatement. I’m digging around on FO this morning, and saw that Kamara was 40th out of 42 for RB DVOA in 2022 and 47th out of 50 in 2021. Our OL adjusted line yards stats were average for 2022 and terrible for 2021, but in both years our RB’s were bottom five in second level yards (5-10 yards past LOS) and open field yards (11+ yards past LOS).

Our run game sucked because we were predictable as hell...incomplete or short pass on 1st....we're running 99.999% on 2nd. Defenses knew, stacked the box and pounced.

Hell we didn't call our first screen pass till week 3...talk about protecting your QB by staving off the pass rush, we just flat out sucked offensively last year and it wasn't on the players.

 

[Rouxble]

Our run game sucked because we were predictable as hell...incomplete or short pass on 1st....we're running 99.999% on 2nd. Defenses knew, stacked the box and pounced.

Hell we didn't call our first screen pass till week 3...talk about protecting your QB by staving off the pass rush, we just flat out sucked offensively last year and it wasn't on the players.

They also stacked the box because we couldn’t reliably attack downfield, with Dalton having the third worst adjusted completion percentage for deep passes in 2022.

But yes, I want to say we had the highest percentage of runs on 2nd and long. Our passing looks pretty efficient on paper for that down and distance, so we probably should have thrown more.

 

[sfidc3]

Yes, me too, but you konw what?

That coach freaking quit. He made magic happen with scrubs and duct tape. He's freaking gone and he left the next guy with a sheet sandwich of no money, no qb and a ton of injuries. And, still, the D played well enough to win while our QB1 sat on the sidelines watching with a broken back and 100m receiver stayed home.

It's not easy and to pretend like the new guy dealt a bunch of crumbs should have won 14 games is stupid.

That coach gave us 16 years, the best years to be a Saints fan, thank god for CSP....my boys got to watch the Saints team (most of his years) that I could only dream about as a kid.....

That same 100m WR didn't play at all in 2021, so not sure what your point is here. And the same QB1 missed 10 games the year before and the D was a bright spot but at the same time they failed to generate turnovers, worst or near worst in the NFL in that category, and that is a huge stat that no one really pays any mind too.

I agree that 14 wins would have been unrealistic, also nobody is saying that was a realistic expectation.....but the team had talent despite the injuries, they lost a lot of close games, and often that comes down to coaching....Iike I said I hope DA improves as a HC this year.....

 

[dtc]

That coach gave us 16 years, the best years to be a Saints fan, thank god for CSP....my boys got to watch the Saints team (most of his years) that I could only dream about as a kid.....

That same 100m WR didn't play at all in 2021, so not sure what your point is here. And the same QB1 missed 10 games the year before and the D was a bright spot but at the same time they failed to generate turnovers, worst or near worst in the NFL in that category, and that is a huge stat that no one really pays any mind too.

I agree that 14 wins would have been unrealistic, also nobody is saying that was a realistic expectation.....but the team had talent despite the injuries, they lost a lot of close games, and often that comes down to coaching....Iike I said I hope DA improves as a HC this year.....

You have blamed DA for everything that happened last year without one consideration for the difficulty he faced in his first year.

He didn't fumble the ball for a loss like Alvin. He didn't step out of bounds like Ingram. And while CSP was great and we will all miss him forever, he had the greatest offense in football for years and went 7 and 9 because he couldn't field a defense so I'm willing to give the new guy a year to get it going on. But now more.

 

[jahsoul357]

Probably an understatement. I’m digging around on FO this morning, and saw that Kamara was 40th out of 42 for RB DVOA in 2022 and 47th out of 50 in 2021. Our OL adjusted line yards stats were average for 2022 and terrible for 2021, but in both years our RB’s were bottom five in second level yards (5-10 yards past LOS) and open field yards (11+ yards past LOS).

This is one of the things where I say that sometimes, we miss the forest for the trees the past 2 seasons. Losing Murray hurt because we didn't have any replacement. A lot of people were talking about Kamara not being a part of the passing game but crap, we were too busy running Kamara like he was a bell cow back. His touches were equal to what they were every other season, he was just used in the run game much more. I think he is one of the most dynamic backs in the league but he ain't built for that. That's why I mentioned that people put so much emphasis on the QBs being the problem when anyone really looking at those games could point out the obvious.

 

[sfidc3]

You have blamed DA for everything that happened last year without one consideration for the difficulty he faced in his first year.

He didn't fumble the ball for a loss like Alvin. He didn't step out of bounds like Ingram. And while CSP was great and we will all miss him forever, he had the greatest offense in football for years and went 7 and 9 because he couldn't field a defense so I'm willing to give the new guy a year to get it going on. But now more.

And it seems you are blind to the many, many DA coaching blunders that caused us to lose close games and the fact that CSP is far from perfect but already had multiple playoffs wins, NFC championship appearance and a SB win already before those seasons....but that's fine, DA is getting another year, lets see what happens....